Why Baby Highlights Is The Way To Go On Dark Brown Or Black Hair

I spoke to a few hair stylists to get their tips on what women with dark brown or black hair should specifically ask for when getting highlights — the key is baby highlights and here’s why.

Always ask for baby highlights

Compared to standard highlights, baby highlights (also known as micro highlights or fine weave highlights) is a technique where the hair is highlighted in very fine or “baby” sections of hair.

You’ll see the width of each highlight is a few strands of hair. It is much more precise and often takes longer than regular highlights. Baby highlights can be more expensive than regular highlights; the cost ranges from USD 250 – 350.

The key difference between standard highlights and baby highlights is that baby highlights result in a one-tone effect across the hair, while regular highlights often have a blend of tones and colors, so the end result can be more multidimensional i.e. have more varying tones.

The reason hair stylists recommend baby highlights:

• The one-tone effect grows out and fades evenly
• It looks more natural
• Fixing the tone is much easier in the long-run

Here’s what my hair looks like 3 months after getting baby highlights and one tone color balance after 2 months.

Be wary about balayage

Don’t get me wrong: there is nothing wrong with balayage, but it’s not the most effective technique, if you want easy-to-manage and natural-looking highlights in the long-run.

To put it simply: balayage is a freehand technique (no foils), which focuses on the placement of the lightener (bleach) throughout different sections of the hair. It’s not as precise as highlights, so when hair grows out the tones tend to be more uneven, making it more challenging to manage.

Instead, go with baby highlights because this technique focuses on precision and that’s the key.

Remember: dark brown and black hair lifts orange (brassy) when it is colored or highlighted

If there is one thing to take away from today’s article it’s this: dark brown and black hair naturally turns orange and brassy whenever any lighter color or lightener such as bleach is added to it. This is because the natural undertones of brunette and black hair are red and orange. These are also the hardest color molecules to break down, so any dark hair with color or highlights naturally starts to turn brassy 6-8 weeks after application.

Some hair stylists may recommend purple shampoo to help you tone down the brassiness. I spoke to Bangkok-based hair stylist Rekha Sachdev about this and she says “Purple shampoo works for blond, grey and lighter hair tones, but it doesn’t really work on dark brown or black hair because the purple shampoo actually accelerates the rate at which the orange brassy tones appear”. And she’s right. I tried purple shampoo and it made my hair brassy very quickly.

Get a tone (also known as a gloss) every 6 – 8 weeks

So, what do you do when the hair starts looking brassy (maybe around 4-6 weeks) after getting highlights?

Ask for a tone or gloss. Your hair stylist will use a toner — a product that is used on color-treated hair — to balance the tone (aka color) of your highlights i.e. get rid of the orange brassy color and leave you with a more neutral, natural tone.

Tone/gloss is much more affordable (prices range USD 45-50); doesn’t take very long (maybe 1 -1.5 hours); and helps to prolong the hair color.

Related:
What Does Hair Toner Do To Highlights

When you see “the band”, it’s time to get your roots done

The band is basically a very visible divide between your natural dark roots and the lighter highlighted hair. It becomes much more noticeable when the hair grows out about 3-4 inches — say after 3-4 months.

According to Rekha Sachdev, at this point it makes sense to get a fresh set of baby highlights, so the roots will blend in with the highlighted hair. This is known as “getting roots done”. You might not need to get your whole hair done — a partial or half head of foil baby highlights might be enough. Follow whatever your stylist says — don’t argue :).

In between highlight appointments, get the gloss/tone as mentioned above.

Follow a hair care routine and nourish your hair and scalp

Any type of color or chemical treatment using hair dyes, toners, bleach etc., causes the hair and scalp some chemical damage and dryness. There’s nothing to stress about it. Just remember adding highlights involves adding chemicals to the root of the hair and altering its natural state — they tend to be more drying — so adding back hydration and moisture is key for healthy hair with highlights.

Listen to your hair stylist’s advice about the right shampoo, conditioner and treatments for your hair. Be diligent about following a hair care routine at home and it will help your hair stay healthy. It’s another key step to easy long-term management of colored hair.

Related:

Here’s A Scalp Care Routine To Prevent Hair Loss, Breakage And Thinning

Why Is Your Hair Falling Out? I Bet You Never Thought This Might Be The Reason

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